Tumbling apparatus



Mmmm 111mm@ Mlm April 22 1924.

F. A. FULLER TUMBLING APPARATUS Apri] 22 Filed April 29 1920 PatentedApr. 22, 1924.

UNITED STATES FRANZ A. FULLER, E NEWARK., NEW JERSEY.

TUMBLING APPARATUS.

Application led April 29, 1920. Serial N'o. 377,437.

To all whom it may concer/n.:

Be it known that I, FRANZ A. FULLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of NewJersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Tumbling Apparatus,of which the following' is a full, clear, and exact description, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,including reference numerals marked thereon, and forming a part of thisspecification.

The invention relates to mechanisms adapted, by agitation and minuteabrasion, to cleanse and polish metallic articles, with specialreference to hinged folding frames used in the construction of bags,purses and like receptacles, and has for its object the achievement ofsuch purposes in a novel and highly effective manner. A method oftumbling hinged articles disclosed in this case. is claimed in myco-pending application, SerialNo. 682,908, filed December 27, 1923.

The invention consist-s in the peculiar construction of a tumblingapparatus specially designed for the mentioned purpose, and further, inthe interior structural formation whereby the fully formed andcompletely assembled bag frames, or other articles be operated on, areheld in a spread or open position during the polishing operation,thereby preventing the hinge connected elements from closing oraccumulating into an interlocked mass, with the consequent liability ofbecoming distorted and broken together with failure of individuallyreceiving proper and effective polish upon all exterior surfaces.

With these ends in view, the invention consists in certain novelties ofconstruction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth andpointed out in the claims;

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 represents a longitudinal verticalsection of the tank, other elements being shown in side elevation. i

Figure 2 represents a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Figure 3 represents a transverse section of a rotary casing, showing abag frame therein.

Figure 4 represents a plan view of a ba frame comprising a pair ofchannelled frame members hingedly united at their extremities.

Figure 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken online 5 5 ofFig. 4.

Figure 6 represents a fragmentary perspective view of a rotary casingadapted to contain bag frames or otherv articles to be tumbled.

y Figure 7 represents a plan view of a modified form of rotary casingshown with' the cover in an open position.

Figure 8 represents a perspective view of a compartmented containeradapted to re# ceive the articles to be tumbled andused in connectionwith the modified form of a cas# ing shown in Fig. 7.

In order to disclose a full knowledge of the process, to those versed inthe art to which it pertains, the same will be described co-incidentallywith the apparatus which constitutes the main portion of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a conventional type of bag or.purse frame, generally designated by the numeral 10, is shown in Figure4, the same being formed of sheet metal, bent. lengthwise into a channelshaped cross section, asshownr in Figure 5 at A, and simultaneously'formed to present outer bar elements B and C having right angled arms Dand E arranged in parallel and joined by hinges F which permitv the sidebar elements B and C to be spread or distended as shown or foldedclosely to gether in register in an obvious manner, it being understoodthat' these frames are provided with nieans for ,attaching the bag orpurse material and also means for clamping or confining the sides whenin a closed con'- dition, the object `of the invention being, as beforestated, to produce a highly `polished or finished surface upon theexposedlexterior surface of the frame, prior to assemblage with the bagmaterial.

Referring to the Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 15 designates the base orfloor-of a tank from whichl rise side andi end walls respectively 16 and17, the latterbeingheld between end extensions 18`ofl the side walls.

A cover 20 is secured by hinges 21 to the rear side wall and can beclamped when yin a closed position by the pivotedclamp bolts 22 and wingnuts at thefront.

A pillow block or bearing 2i rests upon a platform 25 extending betweenthe side walls adjacent one end of the tank and revoluble therein is ashaft 26 passing through stuffing boxes 27 and 28 rigidly set in the endwalls 17 of the tank through which the shaft extends, the shaft beingdriven by a pulley 29 fixed upon its end adjacent the bearing 24.

The shaft 26 passes freely through a spur gear 30, having a hub 31 fixedto the inner end of the stufiing box 27, the gear being thusnonfrotatably mounted concentric to the shaft.

A pair of discs or spiders 32 having hubs 33 are fixed on the shaft 26by set screws 34, and extending oppositely outward from the discs, neartheir peripheries, are a plurality of equally spaced bosses 35, sixbeing shown as preferred although more or less may be employed, thebosses and discs being bored to receive pintles 36 and 37 rotatably andslidablj,7 therein, the pintles 36 having fixed upon their outerextending ends gears 38 normally meshing with the gear 30.

The inner ends of the pintles are fixed in brackets 39 secured to thetumbler casing end elements 40 by screws fil or analogous fasteningmeans.

These casings may be of any preferred cross section, either cylindricalor polygonal, hexagonal being shown as preferred, and in addition to thefixed end elements it), have fixed longitudinal side plates 42, fourbeing indicated in Fig. 3 and three in the modified form shown in Fig.6.

The remaining side plates 44, either two or three are secured to theelements 45, forming the complement of the end plates 40, and areprovided with hinges 46 along one of their edges, connecting with theadjacent side plate 42, while upon their opposite edges are hooks 47engageable in eyes 48 set near the edges of the fixed side. plates withwhich they make contact when the cover is closed.

Each of the several sides of the casings is provided with rows ofperforations 50 which are provided with fine metallic screens 51preventing the passage of the abrading elements used, preferably smoothhardened steel balls, but permitting the ready passage of fluids, bywhich the polishing process is accomplished.

Secured within each casing are a plurality of transverse partitions 52,which as indicated in Fig. 3 extend completely across the interior, oras in Fig. 6 are fixed to extend across the lower half, complementarypartitions 53 being secured in the upper or cover portion, these severalpartitions forming compartments to receive the frames or other parts tobe polished, each compartment being so proportioned as to positivelyprevent folding of the frames on their hinges, the width of thecompartment being less than the length of the arms D of the frames forthat purpose, but sufficiently distanced to permit the reception of aplurality of the frames.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 7 the partitions are relativelywidely spaced and adapted to receive removable work containers, shown inFig. 8, the same being centrally divided and comprised of upper andlower elements 55 and 56 connected by hinges 57 and containingpartitions 58 and 59, each compartment 6() being provided with screenedperforations 6l, this arrangement being specially convenient to operatein loading and unloading the work parts and in entering or removing fromthe tumbler casings as entities.

Charging or discharging the contents of the casings is facilitated bythe provision for shifting the same endwise, due to being able to slidethe pintles 36 and 37 in their bearings to such an extent as todisassociate the gear teeth, space being provided between the gears 38and adjacent end wall 17- for that purpose, thus allowing each casing tobe manually rotated in order to bring its cover portion uppermost.

lith the apparatus illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8, frames are enteredsuch as are indicated in Figure Lf, and of dimensions, when folded,relatively greater than the width of the compartments, the frames freelypass each in an extended position but are prevented from folding orassuming a closed position, thereby avoiding accumulation into aninterlocking mass, in which individual frame or parts thereof wouldbecome distorted, broken and fail to receive the treatment desired.

In Figure 3 the section of the casing is shown to be but slightly inexcess of the dimensions of the frames when open, so that when aquantity of the frames are in operative position in the compartmentsthey cannot entirely pass each other, as in the former device, but canslide, one against another, which, in connection with the steel ballsemployed, and a suitable cleansing fluid, produces polished surfaces inan ef fective manner, the fluid being in constant circulation, due tothe movement of the casings and the balls equally constantly moved by avariety of impulses imparted to them bythe continual change of positionof the casings.

In operation, the tank is partially filled with the liquid to be used,the several compartments in each tumbler casing charged with such numberof frames as may be easily entered and move freely, in connection with aplurality of balls, acting as abrasive elements, the same being retainedin the compartments by the screened apertures through which the fluidflows freely when the shaft and tumbler casings are rotated.

1t is to be understood that the proportions of the compartments are madein accordance with the sizes of the work parts to be polished, while theproportions of the gears, speed of shafts, size of abrading elements,and nature of liquid used are matters of intelligent option founded onexperimental practice.

Experience has demonstrated the apparatus to be highly eflicient inope-ration, producing excellent results in an economical and rapidmanner, and, while the mechanism described is the preferred embodimentof the invention, it is not desired to restrict the exact details ofconstruction, combination and arrangements thereto, it being obvioustliat minor variations, not involving the exercise of invention, may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent, is

l. A tumbling apparatus comprising a covered tank, a shaft rotatablymounted therein, a plurality of tumbler casings arranged in a circlecircumjacent said shaft, supports for said casings carried by saidshaft, a spur gear xed in said tank concentric with the shaft, and gearsat the ends of each of said casings normally engaging said spur gears,said supports permitting the independent rotation of individual casings,by longitudinal movement of the casings whereby the gears aredisconnected.

2. A tumbling apparatus comprising a tank, a shaft mounted therein,spaced discs fixed on said shaft within said tank, a plurality of closedtumbler casings carried by said discs and slidably mounted therebetween,and means for normally rotating said shaft and casings, said meanspermitting limited independent longitudinal movement of said casingswhereby they may be individually manually rotated.

3. A tumbling apparatus comprising a closed tank, a plurality oftransversely compartmented closed tumbler casings arranged to gyrateabout a horizontal axis in said tank, means for rotating one or more ofsaid casings upon their own axes, coincidentally with their gyratingmovement within said tank, and means permitting longitudinal movement ofsaid casings to engage or disengage said rotating means.

This specification signed and witnessed this 28th day of April, 1920.

FRANZ A. FULLER.

Witnesses:

W. H. CONKLIN, FREDK C. FISCHER.

